[Uncle John is a 90 year old man in our church who loves Jesus, is full of infectious joy and has Alzheimer's. Although he doesn't remember me from week to week, he recognizes me as the minister and has a word of encouragement to give me when I greet him after the service. What he says, I always need to hear. I've taken to writing it down so I'm encouraged throughout the week. I share it with you here]...
Sunday, March 24. "Keep on, keep on, keep on. Keep on ministering the word. God is with you always, he will never leave you, he will never forsake you." - Uncle John
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Prayer is work. It requires commitment, it requires time, it drains us, it is necessary to provide spiritually for ourselves, our families and our church. It is both commanded and expected by our Boss (Jesus), to not pray is to be an unfaithful employee.
Prayer is supernatural work. Physical work rewards us with a paycheck (or direct deposit), sense of a job well done, promotion, praise and that internal joy that comes from checking off an item from our "to do" list. The supernatural work of prayer does not reward us in any of these ways. The reward of prayer requires faith. We'll get the job done if we believe God is present when we pray, if we are confident that He hears us and we trust He will answer. We are encouraged to pray when we realize there is no hope for our burdens without prayer (this is being forced to our knees). We show up to pray when we are confident that our prayers will make a difference in the eternity of others, in the situations we bring to God and even at highest levels of power in our world ("Pray for kings..." 1 Timothy 2:2). The reward of prayer is the tiredness that comes after pouring out our hearts to God, the peace that results from giving our burdens to Him and the joy that is present when we know we have obeyed our Lord. The hope of the Christian mission in this world depends on prayer. Christian, its time to show up to work and get to work. |
I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.
- William Carey AuthorMy name is Tim Kirkes. I am honored to be the a child of my heavenly Father, the husband of Lisa, the father of two boys and the pastor of San Dimas Wesleyan church. Archives
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